Peter, Peter, Garlic Eater!
by LadyAlambiel
Summary: What happens when Peter finds himself alone with a Raccoon kit and a garlic bin? Nothing he had planned on, that's for sure.


Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.

Summary: What happens when Peter finds himself alone with a Raccoon kit and a garlic bin? Nothing he had planned on, that's for sure.

A/N: This is part of my _A Light in the Darkness_ universe. Enjoy!

**Peter, Peter, Garlic Eater!**

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Peter peeked around the corner cautiously then grinned. The room was completely empty. _Excellent._ A low growl filled the air and he froze, glancing around for fear someone was near enough to hear. Another low gurgling growl came and he sighed. How was he supposed to sneak about the kitchens if his stomach kept growling loud enough to summon the guards?

Checking the kitchens once more, Peter slipped inside. It was less than an hour until afternoon tea, but tea really wasn't the most filling of meals (especially if Susan and Lucy hadn't invited anyone…which they hadn't today). His stomach growled again and he hurried toward the apple pie cooling on the rack. Just one small slice…or two…well, maybe one good-sized (his kind of good-sized, not Susan's) slice. Yes, that would satisfy his grumbling stomach nicely.

With a stealthiness that would have pleased his most demanding teachers (and silence his self-proclaimed sneaky little brother), High King Peter carefully selected a knife with which to cut the pie. His stomach was growling, his mouth was watering, and every breath brought in the enticing smell of apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It was still steaming slightly when he made the first cut into the buttery, flaky golden piecrust. He placed the knife at an angle to make the second cut…but that wasn't really big enough to tide him over until dinner. He moved the knife so it now formed a good-sized wedge when matched with the first cut. Peter nodded. That would do quite well. He prepared to make the cut and then froze when he heard something thump behind him.

Peter glanced over his shoulder (being not quite ready to give up on finishing cutting his slice of pie), but there was no one around. He looked up and down just to be sure since it was Narnia after all. However, no one was in sight. He must have imagined it. Returning his attention to the pie, Peter licked his lips in anticipation and started to make to the second and final cut. Something thumped again and Peter immediately stopped, as painful as it was for him to halt the knife mid-cut. Another thump and Peter carefully removed the knife from the pie. He was not alone.

He set the knife aside (but not before giving the tantalizing promise of apple-flavored bliss a mournful look) then listened to the thumps as he attempted to track their source. Finally, he located it…the thumps were coming from inside one of the storage bins along the far wall of the kitchen's rear room. Unsure of what he would find, Peter opened the lid and immediately reeled back when a pungent garlic strand smacked him in the face. A little squeak sounded and then he heard an all too familiar hum of pleasure, "'Ing Pet! Mine!"

Blinking his watering eyes, Peter looked askance at the small Raccoon kit sitting smack in the middle of the garlic bin. "Suki? What are you doing in there?"

Her only reply was to giggle and throw an individual garlic bulb at him, which bounced off his forehead. Then her little dark paws grasped at the edge of the bin and she struggled to find a good enough grip that would allow her to climb out. She was covered in garlic dust and had likely gotten into this mess by looking for mischief, but those big dark eyes blinked up at him and Peter plucked her out of the bin. He started to bring her close, to her obvious delight as she began humming and singing, "'Ing Pet! 'Ing Pet! Pretty, pretty, pretty. Mine. Mine, mine."

Peter's cheeks started to heat up (was there no way to break her of this silly little crush?) but then his eyes began to water in earnest as the pungent odor of the Raccoon kit's current state invaded his nose. He coughed a little. He opened his mouth then gagged as Suki thrust a garlic bulb (how did he miss that she had it?) into his mouth. Oh Lion… The Raccoon kit managed to squirm free and clambered to his shoulder then climbed onto his head, pulling at his hair, while Peter continued to gag and cough as he finally dislodged the garlic bulb from between his jaws and his tongue recoiled from the lingering taste of far too much garlic. Suki pulled on his hair and he could feel her scooting around on his head as she hummed. He had the dreadful suspicion that she was rolling around up there (and taking little handfuls of his hair as she did so).

Reaching up, he plucked her free and held her straight out in front of him. His eyes were watering so badly, he could barely see. Suki giggled and bit his thumb as she dropped another garlic bulb then hummed, "'Ing Pet pretty pretty pretty."

He cleared his throat and rasped, "It's nice to see you again too, Suki. But, I think your lady mother is probably wondering where you've been and you, my dear little kit, are in desperate want of a bath." That said, he carried the still-humming Raccoon kit out of the kitchens (passing a highly amused Kat) and all the way back to her family's home.

By the time he finished the task, all Peter could think of was how grateful he was to have successfully kept Suki out of his shirt this time…and he was late for tea. Racing up to the private parlor Susan always used for their private teas, Peter entered to find his siblings already there. Lucy hopped up and raced to him, her arms stretched wide to give her usual greeting hug, but once she was two steps away from him, her smile vanished and her steps faltered. She scrunched her nose and stepped back. "Oh, Peter, what happened? You smell like you were buried in garlic!"

He shrugged sheepishly, "No, just pelted with garlic and I'm pretty sure one was rubbed in my hair. My apologies, Lu, I'll go clean up and be back in a trice."

Susan narrowed her eyes at him then turned to Edmund who was smirking. "Edmund, why did you bombard Peter with garlic?"

His brother's smirk vanished immediately and his dark eyes widened in innocence as he protested, "But, Susan, I wasn't even near Peter after he left the court two hours ago, complaining about his stomach trying to eat his backbone. I might have done it if I had thought of it, but I didn't do it this time."

Peter cleared his throat then tried not to grimace when he still tasted garlic. "Actually, Su, it wasn't him…for once." He ignored Edmund's indignant 'hey' as he reluctantly admitted, "It was Suki." He rather thought the gales of laughter that followed in the wake of his pronouncement were uncalled for…at least, they could have waited until he left the room before indulging themselves. Peter shook his head and retreated to his own quarters to get cleaned up and try to rid himself of most of the garlic perfume now clinging to him. He was still hungry too.

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**A/N: Please Read and Review! **


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